Wood-heel-top-lift-attaching device.



A. c WITHAM.

WOOD HEEL TOP LIFT ATTACHING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 6. 1915.

LIM WQI I Patented July 27, 1915.

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ALVAI-I C. WIII-IAM, 0F HAVERHILL, MASSACHUSETTS.

WOODHEEL-TOP-LIFT-AT'IAGHING- DEVICE.

Application filed April 6, 1915.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that l, ALVAH G. WITHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Haverhill, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in lVood-Heel-Top-Lift-Attaching Devices, of which the following is a specification.

When the heels of shoes are made of wood, they are usually provided with a leather toplift, which is attached to the heel, before the heel is attached to the sole, by nails, or screws, this work having usually been done by hand. This hand method is not only slow, but unsatisfactory, in that the fasteners are, frequently, not inserted symmetrically, and the lifts are frequently not attached in uniform relation to the bottom of the heel, necessitating additional difficulty in finishing the edge.

The object of my invention is to provide means for automatically driving the fasteners through the top lift, so as to attach the latter to the heel, which is adapted to enable this work to be rapidly and satisfactorily performed, so that the top lift will be attached in the desired position, and which may be readil adapted for heels and lifts of various sizes. I accomplish these objects by the means shown in the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line aa of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the top-liftholding plate. Fig. l is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line b b of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, the base 1 of the machine is provided with a power driven shaft 2, in the base thereof, which, in practice, isadapted to be operated by a suitable clutch mechanism, so that the shaft will make one revolution and then stop, but as such mechanism is old and well known in the art, it is not deemed necessary to illustrate it.

A plunger 3 is mounted to reciprocate vertically in a head 4, mounted on the upper end of the base, and said plunger has an eccentric connection with the main shaft 2, so that, as the shaft is rotated, said plunger will be reciprocated, the clutch mechanism being arranged to stop the shaft when the plunger is in its lowestpositlon. The upper end of said plunger is made flat, to provide a horizontal driver-engaging face 3.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1915..

Serial No. 19,596.

A top-lift-holder plate 6 is mounted on the upper end of the head 4, and a pair of gage carriers 7 is adjustably mounted in a slot which extends transversely of the front portion ofsaid plate, so that said carriers are flush with the surface thereof. A11 adjusting screw 8 is provided, having a swiveled connection with said plate and a right and left screw. connection with said carriers 7, respectively, so that, when said screw is turned in one direction or the other, said carriers will be correspondingly moved toward or from each other in the slot in which they are mounted. A gage carrier 9 is also provided in a slot in the plate 6, which extends at right angles to the slot of the carriers 7, midway between said carriers 7, a screw 10 being provided for adjusting the carrier 9 in its slot. A pair of oppositely disposed gage-clips 11 are respectively mounted on the carriers 7, and a V-shaped gage-clip 12 is mounted on the carrier 9, said clips being connected to their respective carriers by screws 13 which pass through slots therein, permitting adjustment of the clips on their carriers. The clips 11 and 12 are provided with oppositely. disposed faces 11, and 12 on the lower edge portions thereof, said faces extending perpendicularly from the surfaces of their respective carriers, and the faces 11 being adapted to engage the opposite side edges of a top lift, and the face 12 to engage the rounded rear edge thereof. Said clips are also provided with projections which extend beyond said faces, which have similarly-shaped faces 11" and 12 at their ends.

A driver tube lt is mounted in each carrier 7 and 9 in a vertical position, the upper ends thereof being flush with the upper surfaces of said carriers, and said tubes depending for some distance therebeneath. A driver 15 is mounted in each tube, each driver having a collar, or head on its lower end, and a spring 17 thereon, interposed between said collar and the lower end of the corresponding tube 1%, said springs acting to hold the lower ends of said drivers against the face 3, on the upper end of the plunger 3, under all conditions, and being movable thereby from positions in which the upper ends of the drivers are at a distance below the upper surfaces of the carriers, equal to the length of the fasteners, to positions in which they are flush with said sur faces.

A clamp rod 18 is mounted to reciprocate vertically in the frame 1, said rod extending semi-circularly at its upper end, so that it depends directly over the space between the clips 11 and 12, said rod being provided with a foot 20 on its lower end, which is pivotally connected thereto and adapted to engage the concave seat of the heel. A treadle mechanism 21 is connected to said clamping rod 18 and a spring 22 is provided thereon for normally holding it in raised position.

In operating the machine, the operator first drops a fastener or tack, head down, into each of the tubes lei, as shown in Fig. 2, then places a top lift, as m, upon the toplift'holder, said clips 11 and 12 being adjusted, by adjusting the carriers 7 and 9, so that their faces 11*, 12, engage the corresponding edges of the top lift, the thickness of which is no greater than the width of said faces. In adjusting said carriers for top lifts of different sizes, the lower ends of the drivers'slide on the face 3 of the plunger, the drivers being adjusted with the carriers, so that they are always held in the same position relative thereto.

It is customary to attach a top lift to wood heels which is somewhat larger than the face to which it is attached, to enable the lift to be trimmed accurately to the heel, and to enable an inwardly beveled edge to be formed thereon. The projections having the faces 11*, 12 thereon are formed to project to a corresponding extent, so that when a heel is then placed on the top lift, said faces will engage the sides of the heel and hold it equidistantly from the edges of the top lift. The treadle 21 is then depressed, forcing the foot 20 firmly against the upper side of the heel, and clamping the heel on the carriers 7 and 9. The machine is then operated, so that the plunger 3 is moved up wardly, forcing up the drivers, and driving the nails through the top lift into the heel, so as to secure the lift thereto, after which the heel is unclamped, slid forward, and removed from the top lift plate. The operation of attaching the lifts may thus be rapidly performed, and the machine readily adapted for heels and lifts of different sizes.

I claim 1. A heel-lift-attaching machine, comprising a series of lift supports having lift-edgeengaging faces, means to adjust said supports transversely of said faces, drivers reciprocally mounted in said supports and movable transversely therewith, and a reciprocally movable operating device for said drivers having a transverse engaging face therefor, arranged to engage said drivers in the different positions of adjustment thereof.

2. A heel-lift-attaching machine, comprising a series of lift-supports having edgeengaging faces, means to adjust said supports, to move said faces transversely for lifts of different sizes, a reciprocally movable, driver-actuating plunger having a transverse driver-engaging face, and a series of drivers, reciprocally mounted in said supports, and actuated to be held in engagcment with said engaging face, and transversely movable to different positions thereon, by said supports, when the latter are adjusted.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of a subscribing witness.

ALVAH C. VVITHAM.

Witness L. H. HARRIMAN.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

